Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of dividing plate-shaped workpieces.
Description of the Related Art
In the step of fabricating devices including semiconductor devices and optical devices, a grid of projected dicing lines is formed on the surface of a wafer to demarcate it into a plurality of areas, and semiconductor devices including integrated circuits (ICs) and large scale integration (LSI) circuits or optical devices including light-emitting diodes and laser diodes are formed in the demarcated areas. Thereafter, the wafer with the devices formed thereon is divided into device chips along the projected dicing lines. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-086542 discloses, in the step of dividing the wafer, a method of cleaving the wafer into a plurality of rectangular plate-shaped workpieces each including a plurality of devices and, after an end face protective film is formed on the cleaved faces, dividing the rectangular plate-shaped workpieces into individual device chips.